Zerelunce
Zerelunce is an Estvoldian island nation off the coasts of Kyrol and Otitha. Ever since the Veriol Alliance was formed, Zerelunce has staunchly kept its borders closed, and they have refused admittance into the country for any reason. Be they prospective immigrant, trader, or diplomat, outsiders will be cast out by Zerelunce's myriad of border patrols long before they even see the shore. What is known about Zerelunce comes from those who have fled the country and successfully escaped -- a tall order given the churning sea that separates Zerelunce from the rest of the world and how every outgoing ship is closely monitored. However, very occasionally, someone escapes on a ship that had clearance to leave the country. From such survivors, who are kept anonymous for their own safety, it has been learned that Zerelunce, if it was affected by the Godbomb at all, was not very hampered by it. Their technology far outpaces the remainder of Ealdremen, being closer to Millennial Calm levels of technological advancement than anything else the outside world has. Because of their xenophobia, however, they will not share it. Citizens are kept in line by artificial intelligences that are revered as local gods might be, and these A.I.s govern different aspects of life for an overarching government that is shrouded in secrecy. Zerelunce's cities are said to be marvelous to behold, but deeply insular and full of suspicion and crime; enormous rewards and prestige for turning in "traitors" to the country has twisted even family against one another, and life in Zerelunce can be described as a game of skirting the law for one's own benefit and trying to find someone else to take the fall. Adhering to the law is hardly an option without pre-existing wealth and prestige to keep oneself safe; all too many criminals will take advantage of law-abiding citizens as their next chance to redirect attention away from their own crimes. Naming Due to its comparatively small land and radical isolationism for several thousand years, Zerelian names have conglomerated from various languages into distinctive naming patterns and systems. A Zerelian's given name will often be most similar to older forms of Estvoldian languages such as Scheli-dren, Morish, Lephikas, or Trok, and there may be some influences from other languages in their name. In some cases, an individual's personal name and surname may originate from entirely different languages or cultures, such as being named Rook-yon Drencht or Zelený Rao-Li. The Zerelian government makes few restrictions on names beyond that they must be names with "proper precedent," preventing people from inventing names. Because historical precedent is the primary means to support using a given name, occasionally distant historical names might be used. In some cases, names will be banned from use to prevent high-profile counter-government activists from having children named specifically after them. Such names will be free to use once again after two hundred years since the original name-holder's death. While a given person's name may not be unique, every Zerelian citizen has a uniquely identifying "citizen number". A citizen number is ten digits and is restricted from use until a hundred years have passed since the death of whoever had the number prior; however, due to the rather small population of Zerelunce, it is especially rare for a citizen number to be reused that quickly. Citizen numbers are used for anything from bank accounts to crime history screening, but they are not used publicly. Knowledge of someone's citizen number might grant access to anything not properly password-protected. Because citizen numbers do not change, individuals are permitted to change their given name for any reason so long as they submit their citizen number when requesting a name change. Commonly, married or otherwise romantically committed individuals will hyphenate their surnames together. Their children, if they have any, will have one surname, only taking an additional one if they marry. Which surname a child takes is usually simply based on what sounds best with their given name, or a child might be permitted to choose which surname they take once they're old enough. In this case, the child's "surname" would be the last few digits of their citizen number. Gatecrashers or other individuals who wish to hide their identity will often go by a pseudonym of some sort. These pseudonyms might sound like proper names, or they might sound like nicknames derived from real words. Especially anarchist individuals, in symbolic representation of how the government "reduces the people to just numbers," might go by single-letter or number-based nicknames. Population Demographics Zerelunce's population is around 1.40 million people. In spite of its borders being closed prior to the Second Galactic War, it has a small population of Beynid-descended people. It is not publicly known how such people live within Zerelunce, nor do the individuals themselves find themselves to be any different than other rarely-found races in the country. Sabarus alphas and shape-shifters cannot be found in Zerelunce. Though autonomous machines, artificial intelligences, and robots exist in Zerelunce, they are not regarded as citizens. Racial *Alova: 1% *Cancchia: 2% *Darkrunner: 9% *Detlimse: .002% *Doeron: .004% *Edav: 1% *Geralkki Lut: 1% *Iddun: 1.4% *Kannar: 2% *Larrier: 14% *Ligvoel: 9% *Lirastot: 2% *Listron: .012% *Human: 6% *Morpher: 6.8% *Noctra: 4% *Odhan: 7.5% *Otelidra: 8.5% *Rakko: .2% *Reot: .014% *Sabarian: .2% *Suljakko: .6% *Tiaquin: .08% *Tumorian: 17% *Wolfgang: 1.3% *Zhiji: 2% *Zorredo: 2.2% Category:Nations Category:Estvoled Category:No Spoilers